President Trump will soon embark on a journey that only NBA Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman could attain: meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
On Thursday, a South Korea official announced outside the West Wing of the White House that President Trump accepted an invitation extended from Pyongyang to meet with Kim Jong Un before May.
“President Trump appreciated the briefing and said he would meet Kim Jong Un by May to achieve permanent denuclearization,” Chung Eui-Yong, South Korea’s national security adviser, told reporters.
Already there’s chatter in some conservative circles that, by meeting with the North Koreans and achieving a peaceful solution to recent months of escalating tensions over North Korea’s nuclear weapons testing, Trump could earn himself a Nobel Peace Prize.
If Trump achieves a solution that involves such action by the North Koreans, he would be achieving the impossible. It would be hard to argue for anyone more deserving of a Nobel Peace Prize if Trump accomplishes that.
But here’s the thing: The chances of the North Koreans completely giving up their nuclear weapons out of the goodness of their hearts is incredibly unlikely.
Kim Jong Un has solidified his brutal grip on power by oppressing the 25 million citizens living under his rule. Any concession that involves giving up some of that power is a non-starter. Kim Jong Un, like his father, Kim Jong-il, and grandfather, Kim Il Sung, have made their system of government sustainable, so long as they throw millions of people into the meat grinder of communism. Completely giving up their nuclear weapons comes off as a sign of weakness, and it’s highly doubtful that Kim Jong Un is interested in backing down in front of President Trump.
However, give credit where it’s due: Trump got much further than the past two administrations. The U.S. has not sent a high-level government official, let alone the president of the U.S., to meet with the leader of North Korea since then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright met with Kim Jong-il in October 2000 in Pyongyang.
The world will undoubtedly have their eyes glued to this meeting. If Trump can get the North Koreans to agree to nuclear disarmament, it’ll be this administration’s Camp David Accords.
Siraj Hashmi is a commentary video editor and writer for the Washington Examiner.
